


Dropping Like Flies

by CakeLoverForLife



Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: Friendship, Gen, No Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26724208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CakeLoverForLife/pseuds/CakeLoverForLife
Summary: What happens when the entire State Department gets the flu?
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	Dropping Like Flies

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my very first time posting a story. I wanted to figure out formatting and whatnot, so I came up with a random story off the top of my head. This is defiantly not my best writing, but I still think it's kind of funny, so enjoy!

"Nadine, I'm sorry, but I... I think I need to stay home today."

Jay's call hadn't surprised Nadine in the least. The State Department staffers had been dropping like flies all week, all seemingly having the flu. "Of course, Jay, take all the time off you need. I'm sure that..." she checked the extremely short list of staffers still at work, "well, I'm sure that someone can cover for you. Get well."

Of course, Jay was the first of the inner circle to catch whatever was going around, but he most likely wouldn't be the last. Nadine stood up from her desk, and looked through the window between her office and the office that Daisy and Matt occupied. Sending up a small prayer that Daisy wouldn't catch the bug and spread it to Johanna, she stepped out into the hallway and popped her head into their office.

"Jay's down," she simply said, and both of them looked up with wide eyes. 

"Good grief, Jay never gets sick," Daisy mused. "That can't be good."

"Well, it was bound to happen sometime. One of us getting sick, I mean," Nadine clarified, then looked at what had become a very pale Matt. "Matt, you okay?"

"Yeah, just hate the thought of puking my guts out because of some stupid bug that had cleaned out the entire office. What do we have, like, fifty people left in this building?" Matt's hands fidgeted above his desk.

"Hey, if anybody had asked me who would get sick first out of all of us in the Secretary's inner circle, I would have put my money on you, Matt-man," Daisy teased her friend, who simply glared back at her.

"I'm going to go inform the Secretary. If any of you begin to feel ill, let me know immediately, then go home! If we're not careful, there won't be anyone left to run the State Department." Nadine turned on her heel, and waltzed out of the room.

"Come in!" was the call from the other side of the door that Nadine knocked on. She opened the door and stepped into the office of Elizabeth McCord. "Nadine, what's up?"

"Jay called in sick a few minutes ago," Nadine filled her boss in.

"Crap," was the first thing that flew out of Elizabeth's mouth. Both women's eyes went wide, and Elizabeth put her hands over her mouth. "Yeah, sorry about that. I just had this crazy notion that we were going to escape whatever it is that's taken out most of my staff."

"Apparently, we're not so lucky, Ma'am." Nadine sighed. "I've been telling people that if they feel sick, they should tell me and go home. We don't need to have the whole department wiped out."

"Sounds good." Elizabeth nodded, then went back to whatever she had been doing before Nadine had entered. Nadine excused herself, and walked past Blake's desk. Taking one look at the Secretary's assistant, she walked up to him.

"Blake, go home," she scolded him.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just..." Blake's incredibly pale face went paper-white, and he reached for his trash can, losing his breakfast.

Elizabeth, who had heard Blake's incident, stepped out of her office. "Go home, Blake! We can manage without you for a few days." Blake hung his head, and gathered his things, leaving his immaculately organized desk a complete mess. "Well, now I know he's sick. He left a mess!" Elizabeth chuckled to herself, before returning to her office.

Nadine called down to janitorial services, where she was informed that the one janitor left would come up to clean up Blake's, um, mess. She headed back to her office, stopping by the adjoining office to inform Matt and Daisy about what had happen. She settled into her chair, and got back to whatever work she could do. It was a blessing that it had been a quiet week in the world; she's not sure how the State Department would have handled a world crisis without half the staff. Looking at her computer, five more emails had arrived in her inbox, notifying her of staff that would not be reporting to work, or had gone home sick. This was ridiculous. Running her hand through her thick black curls, she crossed six more names (the emails plus Blake) off her list of healthy staffers, and made herself busy finding what all would need to be covered for the day.

"Nadine?" Matt's uncertain voice conveyed what he was going to tell her even before she looked up. God, this bug was spreading fast. 

"Yes, Matt?"

"I think I need to go home..." he nearly fell over, catching himself on her doorframe. "I'm... well, I'm dizzy. And sweating. And nauseous."

"Get your stuff and go home, Matt. And, for the love of god, try to stay away from Daisy. She's got Johanna, and..."

"It might be a little late for that." Daisy stood behind Matt, her forehead covered in sweat. "I think I'm sick too...." Nadine stood up in time to catch the press coordinator before she fell to the ground, unconscious. 

"Daisy!" Matt called out, as Nadine lowered her friend to the ground.

"Blake!" Nadine called out, before realizing he wasn't there. She stood up, and called one of the staffers she knew was still downstairs, then called 911. "Matt, you need to go home. Call a taxi, and stay out of the way." Matt nodded, still staring at the unconscious Daisy. "Matt, move!" He darted out of the way. Knowing she couldn't lift Daisy on her own, she ran the short distance to Elizabeth's office.

"Ma'am!"

"What is it, Nadine?" Elizabeth stood up, a look of concern crossing her face as she saw Nadine's expression.

"It's Daisy. She passed out. I can't lift her on my own, and Matt's pretty much useless at this point, so..."

"I'm right behind you," her boss interrupted, running behind Nadine back to Nadine's office doorway. Matt was nowhere to be found, but Daisy was still lying on the floor, motionless. The women, together, lifted Daisy and carried her to the elevator. Reaching the first floor, a few staffers met them at the elevator, and helped to carry Daisy to the front of the building, where they could hear an ambulance approaching.

After Daisy had been loaded onto the ambulance, Nadine had a time of it keeping Elizabeth from jumping into the ambulance herself. 

"I need to go with her."

"Ma'am, with all due respect, you are needed here."

"She's going to wake up alone."

"She'll understand why we can't come. We are the last two left of the inner circle. We have to keep the department running, whether we want to or not." Nadine hoped her boss couldn't see that she, too, was fighting the urge to go with Daisy. Daisy was like a daughter to Nadine, and she hated to leave her alone. But there was work to be done. Surely Elizabeth could understand that.

"Fine! Fine!" Elizabeth still seemed torn between her job and her friend. She looked straight into Nadine's eyes. "I can't even send Blake after her. This... this is a crappy day, Nadine." She looked down.

"I noticed, Ma'am," Nadine deadpanned, though with a hint of sadness.

Elizabeth looked back up. "So, back to work?" 

"For as long as we last, I suppose."

"Don't even go there, Nadine!" Elizabeth cried, though she started laughing. "I honestly don't think there's a protocol for if the entire State Department staff is out with the flu."

"Probably not, Ma'am." It was ironic, Nadine thought. As far as she knew, this had never happened before. But, most likely, she and Elizabeth would not be far behind the rest of the staff. They just needed to get as much done as possible before they too were taken down by this stupid flu.

They worked for hours. Nadine brought a few files, along with her laptop, to Elizabeth's office, where she worked for the majority of the afternoon. They had mutually agreed that it probably wasn't the best idea to be alone on opposite sides of the floor at that point. At one point, Nadine thought she saw Elizabeth begin to fan herself, though she said nothing about it. She, too, had begun to get unnaturally hot, and she knew it would only be a matter of time before she would have to go home. Her brain was starting to go fuzzy. She was just about to close her laptop, when she heard a loud thud from across the room.

"Madam Secretary!" Nadine rushed over to Elizabeth, who had fallen down next to her desk, hitting her head on the corner of the desk as she fell. There was, well, there was quite a bit of blood. Grabbing her cell phone, Nadine called downstairs, screaming, "Call 911! Call 911! The Secretary's down!" Then Nadine, having used up the last of her energy, passed out on the floor next to her boss.


End file.
